Conventionally, a radiation detecting apparatus including a radiation film having a radiation intensifying screen and a photosensitive layer having a scintillator layer for converting X-rays into light has been generally used in radiographing.
However, there has been recently developed a digital radiation detecting apparatus having a scintillator having a scintillator layer and a two-dimensional photo detector having a photoelectric conversion element. In the digital radiation detecting apparatus, since data obtained is digital data, image processing is easily performed. Accordingly, by incorporating such digital radiation detecting apparatus into a networked computer system, the data can be shared. In addition, there is the following other advantage: storage of image digital data into a magneto-photo disk or the like can decrease required storage space quite remarkably as compared with storage of films, thus facilitating retrieval of past images. Further, as development of digital radiation detecting apparatuses has advanced, such digital radiation detecting apparatuses having characteristics of high sensitivity and high sharpness have been proposed, which has enabled reduction in the patient's radiation exposure doses.
As a conventional example of a digital radiation detecting apparatus, one example of a configuration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,699. U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,699 describes that a scintillator layer (wavelength conversion member) for converting X-rays into visible light is disposed on an X-ray-incident side of a semiconductor element substrate having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner, and a surface on the opposite side to the X-ray-incident side of the semiconductor element substrate is fixed on a base through an adhesive agent.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-214808 describes an example in which a scintillator layer made of a number of columnar crystals made of CsI doped with Tl, with high light-emitting efficiency, are arranged on a surface on the X-ray-incident side of the photoelectric conversion element substrate, and the back face of the photoelectric conversion element substrate is fixed on a mount substrate with an adhesive agent. Further, the scintillator layer is covered with a moisture-proof protective film.